gatefandomcom-20200214-history
Imperial Army
The''' Imperial Army '(帝国陸軍 ''Teikoku Rikugun) is the main army used by the Empire. The Imperial Army is similar in appearance and structure of the real-world Roman Army of its mid Imperial period, being made up primarily of formations of heavy infantry armed with spears, swords, large rectangular shields, and utilizing Roman testudo formations in battles. Also present in the military are cavalry, archers, siege engines such a battering rams, ballistae, and trebuchets, and dragon riders. Auxiliary forces are provided by both human and goblin vassal and clientel states of the Empire. Overview While the Empire is very Roman-like, their technology level is particulary more late-medieval. For instance the Imperial cavalry, who are typically similar in appearance to medieval knights, clad in plate armor and armed with swords and lances. Other medieval weaponry used by the Empire include halberds and trebuchets. Since all the events in Gate have taken place on land, there has been no direct contact with the Imperial Navy. A map of the Special Region depicts a Greco-Roman-style warship or trireme like in the classic ancient period, a mixed oar and sail powered vessel armed with a forward naval ram. This suggests the Empire or their vassal states possess some form of naval forces. It is later revealed that Imperial Navy is equivalent to the ancient Roman style warship in term of combat, which involves ramming ship into enemy ship at fast speed or firing rain of arrows from one ship to another ship. Despite their inferior and primitive weaponry, they still pose some threats to the JSDF, especially in large numbers when conducting ambush. In the Imperial Civil War, they manage to inflict some damages to the JSDF through human wave tactics and ambushes. However, due to Zorzal's idiocy and lack of wise thinking, they often lose against the JSDF since they not fully adapt to JSDF weaponry and tactics based on the fact that they never incorporate firearms into the army. Therefore, they only manage to win against the JSDF through short term attrition with massive casualties until they are being utterly defeated by JSDF's superior weaponry. Structure Much like the Roman army, 80 soldiers or ten contubernium each consists of 8 soldiers will form a century lead by a Centurion. Six centuries together make up a cohort lead by Primus Pilus (The First Five) followed by his superior Camp Prefect who in charge of the daily operation in the camp; 5 tribuni augusticlavii and 1 tribunus latclavius who is also a future potential senator. Finally, ten cohorts will create the largest division of troops is referred to as a legion lead by the Legion Legatus (General) who are also the member of the Senate. Other divisions of the army are not known, and it is not clear how the size of an Imperial legion compares to that of a Roman legion in the Early-mid Imperial periode (3.000-6.000 man per Legion and 1.000-2.000 man auxillaries) or the late Antiquity (1.000 man per comitatensis) (field army) or Limitanei (border guard army) with 500-1.000 man foederati (barbarian mercenaries) in both. Auxiliaries like Orcs, Goblin or Troll and orders of knights are separated like the buccellari (Knight-like, by roman generals paid heavy armoured and mounted mercenaries) in the late Antiquity. One difference from the ancient Roman Army is the fact that the Imperial Army does employ a kind of Air Force in the form of the Wyvern Corps. These are soldiers who are trained to ride wyverns (dragons with winged forearms). They are normally armed with lances and use the wyverns' ability to breathe fire to attack enemy troops on the ground. They are the ancient equivalent of ground-support aircraft as the helicopters and jets of the JSDF. They are also used for reconnaissance, patrols, and for intimidation. However, they prove to be vulnerable to modern-day anti-aircraft weaponry and severely outmatched against modern aircraft. They are completely wiped out at the end of the Imperial Civil War. All Auxiliaries members are non-Empire citizen and are often treated as meat shield and cannon fodder for the main Imperial force. Due to the racism against humanoid, these Auxiliaries members cannot gain citizenship like in the real-life Auxiliaries soldiers (an Auxiliaries Roman soldier could gain citizenship after 35 years of services). In the Imperial Palace, there are the elite group of soldiers called Imperial Guard who are in charge of protecting the King, the royal family and the Senate. Despite their superior fighting power over normal soldier, they are still being outclassed by the Rose Order of Knight since Bozes and Beefeater can defeat several of them with ease. Attitude Unlike the JSDF and general modern army's War is hell outlook, the Imperial army holds an outdated belief that War is glory, which causes them to be extremely reckless in fighting the JSDF as they often charge head-on toward the line of fire of the JSDF without much of consideration of casualties. This attitude is reinforced heavily by the Oprichnina in the Imperial Civil War causing innumerably senseless massacres. Furthermore, despite stating that fighting the Imperial army is more like pest control, the JSDF still possesses far more cautions to engage them and often tries to minimize casualties as much as possible because of their pragmatic conception in warfare. This result in the fact the JSDF always emerges victory with lowest number of casualties while the Empire not only loses the engagement but also suffers tremendous losses. Prisoners of war The normal way of treating prisoners, for the Empire, usually involved dragging them behind a horse, and when the prisoners collapsed from exhaustion, they would be poked with spears or lashed with the flat of a blade, forcing them to rise and continue. Even if they did stand, however, they would still be brutalized with fists and feet. In this way, the prisoners would lose the will and strength to resist or flee, and it was also part of the process of breaking them before selling them as slaves. On the other side, if Imperial soldiers and officers are taken as POWs by the enemy, the officers and nobles expect themselves to be treated as befitting to their rank, while the demi-human and common foot soldier are considered as expendable. The Empire expects the high-ranking officers and nobles to be ransomed back or traded during negotiations. However, much to the shock of the Empire, Japan and the other countries of Earth, do not follow this practice nor keep slaves. All POWs are treated equally and fairly, much to the disgust of the nobles who were imprisoned alongside the demi-human and conscripted peasant soldiers. History Little is known about the pre-contact history of the Imperial Army, or indeed the Empire itself. It is known, however, that about 250 years prior to the events of Gate (mid-1700s Earth calender), the Imperial Army participated in a long and difficult conflict known as the Arctic War, presumably with some northern race or civilization. The contact presumably ended in an Imperial victory. Before their failed invasion of Japan, the last major action the Imperial Army took part in was the conquest of the Warrior Bunny tribes under Zorzal El Caesar. This conflict was an unprovoked act of aggression that prompted by the need for slave labor in the Empire. The Empire was victorious, albeit with severe casualties. Zorzal ordered all of the Warrior Bunny tribes enslaved or slaughtered, and took their queen, Tyuule as his personal sex slave. Ginza Incident In 20xx, the Empire crossed the Gate into Japan, but was quickly defeated at the Battle of Ginza by the technologically superior Japan Self-Defense Forces. The JSDF followed up their victory at Ginza with an invasion of the Special Region. First and Second Battle of Alnus Hill After their defeat in Ginza, the empire has attempted to drive the JSDF back through the Gate, however they experienced a crushing defeat of the Imperial and Allied Army at the Second Battle of Alnus Hill, thanks to the far superior firepower of JSDF artillery, tanks, and machine guns. The battle resulted in the loss of over 60,000 Imperial soldiers, leading to a significant decline in Imperial military power and political influence. Imperial Civil War After Zorzal El Caesar's Coup, the Imperial Army suffers a loss of 90% of its overall remaining strength due to the idiotic tactics of Zorzal El Caesar and his commanding generals. Their use of mass human wave attacks, short-sighted guerrilla schemes, and ineffective countermeasures to Japan's technological might, quickly depleted the ranks of all remaining regiments and the Wyvern Corps itself was wiped out. Pirate Attacks Nearly 4 years after the Imperial Civil War, the weakened Empire begins to suffer attacks along its coastline by marauding pirates. Due to the resentment of the civilians over the massive losses, economic hardship, and devastation caused by the previous conflict, attempts to recruit and replenish the Imperial Army are futile and only the Rose-Order of Knights are recognized as an official branch. As such, the near-extinct Imperial Army cannot handle the pirates, thereby forcing Empress Pina Co Lada to ask for support from the stranded JSDF members. Known Units Infantry *1st Corps *6th Corps *7th Corps *9th Corps *10th Corps *11th Corps *13th Corps *15th Corps Cavalry *6th Cavalry *7th Cavalry *9th Cavalry Special Operations Forces *Armored Ogre *Demi-Human, Orc, Goblin Auxiliary Cohorts *Dragon Riders / Wyvern Corps *Imperial Guard *Oprichnina *Rose-Order of Knights Category:Terminology Category:Groups